Northeast
Whistleblower claims Secret Service 'painting a false picture' of protection for Trump: Hawley
Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley sent letters to U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leaders on Wednesday detailing a new whistleblower claim that Secret Service leadership is trying to hide the level of protection given to former President Trump.
The letter to USSS Director Ronald Rowe and DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari alleges a whistleblower’s claims that government auditors are being denied access to certain Trump campaign events in an effort to hide these apparent protection shortfalls for the former president.
“You of course have publicly stated that former President Trump is receiving ‘the highest level of Secret Service protection’ and that ‘he’s getting everything.’ This new whistleblower information troublingly contradicts your public statements,” Hawley wrote in his letter to Rowe.
In his letter to Cuffari, Hawley said the new whistleblower allegations say “Secret Service headquarters blocked several of your auditors from accessing recent Trump campaign events.”
NEW WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS ON FIRST TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ‘HIGHLY DAMAGING’ TO SECRET SERVICE: HAWLEY
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., left, sent a letter to USSS Director Ronald Rowe asking about whistleblower claims regarding vulnerabilities at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle and Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg)
“The Secret Service whistleblower alleges that the denial was in order to hide the fact that the former president is not receiving a consistent level of protective assets for all of his engagements,” Hawley wrote. “[Y]ou should be aware of these allegations, which indicate that the Secret Service is not in fact cooperating with your auditors and is instead painting a false picture.”
The Secret Service could not immediately be reached for comment.
Republican presidential candidate former President Trump raises his fist in the air defiantly after an attempted assassination left him with a wounded ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
TRUMP BLAMES BIDEN-HARRIS ‘RHETORIC’ FOR LATEST ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, SAYS HE WILL ‘SAVE THE COUNTRY’
Since the July 13 assassination attempt against the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania, Hawley has been collecting whistleblower claims to expose potential USSS deficits and errors.
About two months after 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump in the ear, Hawley released a wide-ranging whistleblower report detailing various allegations against the agency.
Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. of the U.S. Secret Service addresses the media at a press conference with updates on the investigation into the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 16. (Mega for Fox News Digital)
Hawley found a “compounding pattern of negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence that goes back years, all of which culminated in an assassination attempt that came inches from succeeding,” the report read.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed Hawley’s legislation requiring DHS to submit all information regarding the July 13 and Sept. 15 assassination attempts against Trump.
Crooks’ gunfire during the first assassination attempt left rally attendee Corey Comperatore, a husband and father of two, dead. Crooks also shot and critically wounded two other rally attendees, James Copenhaver and David Dutch.
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Boston, MA
Red Sox shed light on plans for outfield, including Ceddanne Rafaela’s role
Last year the Red Sox had a unique and enviable problem, which was that at full strength the club had more starting-caliber outfielders than it had available lineup spots.
Injuries kept that from being an issue most of the season, but for some stretches the only way the club could accommodate everyone was by playing Gold Glove center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela at second base.
With Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Masataka Yoshida and Rafaela all set to return for the 2026 campaign, the Red Sox could face a similar logjam, but both manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow signaled that they’d prefer not to move Rafaela to the infield again.
“We’ll talk about that one, but probably not,” Cora said.
“Ceddanne is an incredibly gifted athlete and can impact a game in so many ways, and it makes it really easy when you can put him at second base or play shortstop for a long time for us like in ’24 when Trevor (Story) was hurt, but he is game-changing in center field,” Breslow said. “We saw that this year, and giving him the consistency of playing the same position every day also has benefits for his offense.”
Rafaela delivered a breakout season in the outfield last year, ranking second in MLB across all positions in defensive runs saved at center (plus-20) en route to his first career Gold Glove.
His impact defensively at second, however, was much more modest. In 24 games at the position he was just plus-one defensive runs saved.
Recognizing Rafaela’s value in the outfield, it was widely expected that the Red Sox would clear a spot by trading one of their incumbent players, most likely Duran or Abreu. But up to this point that hasn’t happened, and Breslow said it was never something he considered an urgent priority.
“It was never likely in my mind,” Breslow said. “We’ve got really talented outfielders and when teams call that’s what other executives point to. They’re young, they’re controllable, they’re dynamic, they’re talented, they can impact games in multiple ways. It’s really nice to be able to say they’re also members of the Boston Red Sox.”
So how will the Red Sox accommodate everyone if Rafaela isn’t going to play second? Cora said he expects to rotate players through more regularly, though he added that Rafaela and Abreu — both Gold Glove winners — will likely play more often than not.
“I think keeping guys healthy is something we always talk about,” Cora said. “They’re good outfielders, all of them, as a unit they’re the best in baseball. We just have to figure out the stadium, workload, and all that, but Willy and Ceddanne, they’re the best in the business, they probably will be playing the most in the outfield.”
Pittsburg, PA
Masontown Borough unanimously votes to reinstate police department
Connecticut
Dog found dead in Willimantic River
A dog was found dead on the ice in the Willimantic River on Friday, according to the Willimantic Police Department.
The Windham Animal Control was notified after a report of a small dog lying motionless near the center of the river close to the waterfall.
Emergency personnel responded and found that the dog was already dead and had been laying on a cardboard box on unstable ice.
While the police and fire department worked to create a plan to rescue the dog, the ice broke apart, and the dog was carried downstream.
It is still unknown how the dog ended up in the river, and what the causes of death were.
Animal control and the Willimantic Police Department are currently investigating the incident and are looking to find out who was involved and how the dog entered the water.
Anyone with information can call the police department at 860-465-3135.
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